


Our Job

by ashe_urbanipal



Series: Good Times: A Fruits Basket Fanzine [2]
Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2001), Fruits Basket (Anime 2019)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/M, Future Fic, Parents, Plans For The Future, Pregnancy, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 07:26:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25346938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashe_urbanipal/pseuds/ashe_urbanipal
Summary: Things had never been easy for Kyo. Tohru made things easier, but he never thought he deserved it. And now, on the horizon of the biggest challenge of his life to date, he doesn't know if he can do it. Can he become something that he felt he never really had: a father.
Relationships: Honda Tohru/Sohma Kyou
Series: Good Times: A Fruits Basket Fanzine [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835614
Comments: 1
Kudos: 28





	Our Job

**Author's Note:**

> Good Times: A Positive Fruits Basket Zine originated in 2019 as a fun Fruits Basket fanzine. As 2020 hit and the world became...well...you know...it became clear the zine wouldn't get the physical release originally planned. Instead, we decided to make it totally digital and offer all proceeds to various charities. This is one of my pieces for it, posted with permission.  
> Buy the full zine on itch.io to see more great fanwork and fan art.
> 
> furubazine.itch.io

Kyo sat on the edge of the slowly filling bathtub, elbows propped up on his knees at a sharp angle, fingers curled into tight fists and stuffed up under the edge of his chin. The tile at his feet was just shiny enough to show back a blue-tinged ghost of his own reflection. When did he get this old? Looking back on old photos he could see it, of course. The gentle change from high school idiot, through graduation, to his first day on the job, all the way up to the day he asked Tohru to marry him and the day he finally did. This was the first time he had properly felt his age, though.  
He lifted his gaze away from the reflection on the floor to the clearer one in the mirror on the wall. That was a thousand times worse and he averted his eyes to the other wall. He let out a sigh and uncurled his hands, letting then fall limply between his legs.  
Water touched the edge of his pants where it met the tub edge and he jumped up, almost slipping on the vague sheen of water that had already spilled over. He slammed down the lever on the tap and took a deep breath as he stared down at the surface of the now way too full bathtub.  
"Damnit," he muttered to himself as he plunged his arm down through the just-too-hot water toward the plug drain. He lifted it just enough to let some of the excess water slowly swirl down out of the tub. "Don't start making things worse, you idiot."  
"Kyo, I'm home!" A clear, thin voice accompanied the sound of the front door opening.  
"Welcome back," Kyo responded with less energy than usual. If Tohru noticed, it didn't show. Her voice immediately settled into its usual chatter as she moved through the house.  
"I'm sorry I'm late. I had to help with some last minute things for the XOD Corporate Dinner tomorrow." She was so cheerful, and Kyo could almost imagine the smile pulling at the edges of her eyes and mouth as she slipped out of her work clothes.  
"I thought that was Takeguchi's account?" Kyo danced his hand across the top of the water. It was just the right temperature, now.  
"It is, but Takeguchi-san needed an extra hand."  
"Are you actually going to get credit for doing his work for him, this time?" Kyo bit his tongue. He didn't want to argue with her, but this always happened.  
"Of course I will."  
No she won't, Kyo knew.  
"Besides, I like helping."  
Finally, her slim body appeared in the doorway, lightweight floral dress falling down just past her knees, bare feet still poised and ready to jump out of stillness into action.  
"Oh, no! I'm so sorry I wasn't home to get your bath ready." Her beautiful brown eyes widened and her pink lips opened into a soft, delicate pout. "Hop in the bath, and I'll have dinner ready by the time you're done. I hope hamburger steak is alright."  
Kyo stood up and took her hands into his, pressing his thumbs against the top of them.  
"No, you idiot, it's for you. Take a bath, and I'll make dinner."  
"Oh no no, I can't let you do that."  
"You can and you will. I think I can handle a little hamburger steak." He pulled her into a hug around her shoulders and quickly kissed the top of her head. He turned them both around in the small bathroom, putting her closer to the tub so he could escape through the door. Sometimes a little insistence was needed to get her to relax for even a moment.  
"Oh, but I can't possibly take a bath before you."  
"You can and you will. Think of it like a present to me, if that makes you feel better."  
"I couldn't possibly." She made a break for the doorway, her tiny body was stopped short by Kyo's wider frame blocking the way. For half a moment she fought against him, then stopped, pressing her hands against his chest. "At least let me go get dinner started. You always cut yourself chopping vegetables."  
"I haven't done that in ages, and if I did, then that's what bandages are for."  
"Kyo…" her face looked up at him, top teeth biting slightly into her bottom lip.  
"Tohru, you're…we're having a baby. You're pregnant. You need to start taking it easy."  
She kept staring up at him, nostrils twitching ever so slightly. Her body was pressed up against him, and he could feel the slight bump of her belly through her dress. It seemed like she had gone through great pains to hide it, but he still couldn't believe he had missed it for so long.  
"But no one knows yet and they'll think I'm not pulling my weight and I can't...I can't..." Her hands were tiny little things, curled up into tight balls and pushing into him.  
"Okay," she finally agreed.  
And she was defeated, stepping back out of the circle of his arms. Kyo ducked out of the bathroom, sliding the door closed behind him. He was only two steps away when the smallest of sobs from the other side of the bathroom door broke through gathering tension.  
Damn it.

\-----

"I can't believe you made our little Tohru cry." Shigure set down his tea, carefully placing it next to his bowl of rice with the tips of his fingers.  
It was strange to be in that house without her. To sit at a table where she had served so many meals and eat takeout instead. She was out with Akito, though, buying maternity clothes for a frame that couldn't hide its condition anymore. It was an honor Akito had had to fight for. News that their beloved Tohru was having a baby had spread through the Sohma family like wildfire, and he had been fielding their anticipation in various ways non-stop for a week.  
"Yes, I thought we were past this." Because Akito wasn't there, Yuki was. Even now, he avoided being around her as much as possible, and Kyo was secretly glad of it. It was reassuring to know he wasn't the only one still haunted by the darker days of their youth.  
"It wasn't on purpose!" Kyo looked down at his own cardboard bowl. "She cries all the time, now."  
"That doesn't mean you have to make it worse." Yuki punctuated his annoyance with a particularly curt bite of tofu.  
"I'm doing the best I can!" Kyo insisted, banging his fists on the table. "I make dinner when she lets me and do the laundry and rub her feet. She's just so damn stubborn."  
"The woman is growing a whole other human inside of her." Shigure folded his hands neatly on top of the table, lifting his chin to look down his nose at Kyo. "But yes, go ahead. Complain about the few extra household chores."  
"That's not... AGH! When you guys have to go through this, you'll understand."  
"Oh, I'm not having children." The words spit out of Yuki's mouth like a curse.  
"What?"  
"Yes, I've discussed it with Machi at great length, and we're in agreement. No kids."  
"Really?"  
"Mmhm. I realized a long time ago that I had no business being a father." The next sip of his tea was long, deep, letting his words gather weight in the silence. "With no decent point of reference, how could I ever hope to know how to be a good father? And even if I did, there's no way I'm suited to the task. Remaining childless is a mercy to the world at large." His tea came down hard on the table with a loud thunk.  
Kyo looked down at his hands, fingers pale against the dark, cherry-tinted wood.  
"You really think all that?" His voice was soft, entirely unlike himself. Yuki lifted his eyebrow, shrugging off the enormity of the idea.  
"We all had terrible childhoods, Kyo," Shigure offered. "Are you really that surprised?"  
Kyo tilted his head, tuft of orange bangs sliding across his forehead, one of the little cat-like ticks he still couldn't shake after all these years.  
"You too, Shigure? You and Akito?"  
Shigure started and stopped a few times, touching his tongue to the tip of his teeth as he considered his words.  
"Akito was born as the head of the family. She was forced into this 'parental' role that she does miss incredibly but also admits turned her into...well...what she was..." Shigure leaned his head into his hand, letting his palm cup his chin dramatically. "She won't admit it, but she still has a hard time connecting with people properly. It gets a little better every year, though, so whenever she's ready, we'll come back to the idea."  
"You act like it's all up to her," Yuki intoned. "You do realize you'd be the other half of the equation."  
A sly smile crawled across Shigure's lips.  
"Oh believe me, I know the mechanics of it. I'm merely open to the idea either way. Whatever makes Akito happy, makes me happy."  
"You can't NOT have your own opinion on the matter!" Yuki insisted. "It's having children, not picking the wall paper."  
"Don't deflect to me. We're here to support our darling Kyo!"  
But Kyo had slipped away mentally, stuffing large bites of rice into his mouth with automatic motions. He hadn't thought yet about what kind of father he'd make. Not enough to be afraid he couldn't do it. Not until now, at least. It was a different fear that had crept into his thoughts as he'd lain next to Tohru at night. Something he didn't dare give form or shape to (especially around these idiots).  
"Heeeelloooo!"  
The door in from the porch banged open loudly behind him, but Kyo didn't need to turn to know who it was.  
"Ayame, what are you doing here?" Yuki sighed.  
"Boys' night! I brought cake." He lifted up a plastic grocery bag. "Oh. And Hatori."  
Hatori leaned out from behind Ayame and stepped inside, taking the bag.  
"I'll go and cut this." He disappeared quietly around the edge of the wall and into the kitchen. Then Kyo was struck with either the dumbest or most brilliant idea he'd had all week. Hatori was sensible. A doctor. He might be able to ease this worry that had built up in Kyo's heart.  
"I'll help," Kyo said curtly, and got up from the table, following behind Hatori.  
"Get a plate," Hatori said by way of greeting when he noticed Kyo had come into the kitchen with him. "Are they pestering you with baby questions?"  
"Yeah...yeah, that's sort of been the topic of conversation." Kyo set the plate down and slid it across the counter toward where Hatori had just wrestled off the cake packaging.  
"Can I ask you a question? As a...doctor...I guess?"  
"I'm not an obstetrician but sure."  
"Well, it's sort of about the curse."  
Hatori paused with a knife just above the top of the cake before reluctantly gesturing that Kyo should continue.  
"How do we know it's totally lifted?" The air between them grew quiet and stale as Hatori stared across the vast gap between them.  
"I think you'd know if you were still turning into an animal…unless you've mastered some new method of concep-"  
"That's not what I mean!" Kyo interrupted, his ears growing hot in embarrassment. "Yeah, it's gone for us, but does that mean it's gone forever? Forever forever? Do we know that it won't be...um...reborn?"  
"No." Hatori's gaze kept level, and Kyo's shoulders dropped beneath it, that slight hope Hatori could offer comfort now floating away in front of him. "But neither Ayame or I have passed it on to our own daughters, so I like to think that's a positive sign."  
"Yeah, but...what if...because I'm the cat…"  
"Think you're special, Kyon-kichi? That you're extra cursed?" Ayame appeared in the doorway coming into the kitchen, leaning his slender body against the frame. He glided across the floor and draped an arm over Kyo's shoulder.  
"Say you're right, and that little monster comes out and they turn into a goat or something. Are you going to drop them off at the orphanage?"  
"No, of course not." No hesitation.  
"Exactly. Nothing you can do about it, anyway, so why worry about it?"  
"Kyo," Hatori broke in, "having a baby is hard, but, believe me, stressing out about things you can't control isn't good for either of you. Take it one step at a time."  
"It's true." Ayame reached one of his delicate fingers across and brushed a strand of hair from Kyo's forehead. "You're a husband, about to be a dad, and your wife and future child need you now more than ever, and it's your job to take care of them. You can't do that if you're caught up in your own head like this. So knock it off." Ayame smacked him lovingly on the back of his head.  
He knew they meant well, but the fear wasn't so easily shakable.

\----

The stillness of 3AM was almost soothing in its oppression, the darkness of the deep night pressing in on all sides. On the roof the world felt a little smaller, a little slower. It had been a long time since Kyo had felt the need to escape to the highest point he could find. He missed the days when he could just scale the side of a building or take the hit of a multi-story fall. The breaking of the curse had taken most of that unusual prowess with it. A ladder was usually good enough, though, and the single story house wasn't exactly a tough feat.  
His feet hung off the edge of the tiled roof, gently swinging free. The full moon was low in the sky, getting ready to fall down into the ruddy colors of a sunrise that was both too soon and an eternity away. Away and down their narrow road, a few street lamps flickered nervously. An equally agitated breeze tugged at the edge of Kyo's shirt. But then maybe it was his own anxiety painting the world around him with his own unsure mood.  
"Kyo?" A small voice from below him through the open bedroom window. He peeked over the edge of the roof. Her upper body hung out of the window, gazing around at the side yard. Before he could call out to her, her eyes found the ladder leaning against the wall and worked their way up to his perch above. "What are you doing?"  
"Nothing. Just thinking. Don't worry about it." He called back down, attempting to keep his voice from ringing out through the neighborhood. "I'm coming back down, now." He hadn't actually been ready to give up his solitary brooding, but now his concentration was far too broken to slip back into it.  
Down the ladder and back into the house, Tohru was waiting for him in the kitchen, pouring them each a glass of milk.  
"To help you sleep," she explained as she placed them in the microwave. Kyo sat at their small table, feeling the agitation still lick the bottoms of his feet. After a minute and a half, two glasses of warm milk came to rest in front of them, and she dropped her heavy body down into the chair across from him. The baby would be joining them any day now, yet she hadn't complained about any of the bodily grievances she had to be experiencing. In fact, since taking leave from work, she'd become a madwoman. Cleaning, cooking, organizing and reorganizing the room they had turned into a nursery. The aunty next door cooed and called it nesting, but Kyo was worried about her. She didn't need to be working so hard in her condition.  
"Are you angry with me?" Tohru didn't look at him, instead shifting her eyes over her glass of milk.  
"No?" Kyo responded. "Why?"  
"Are you sure?"  
"Yes!" And he hated that he was now, indeed, a little mad.  
"Nevermind," but her face held a completely different response.  
"Tohru, come on. What is it?" Kyo tried to soften the blow of his inquiry, but it had been so hard to be gentle, lately.  
"I just get the feeling that you're angry about...about the baby. Did you...do you not want him?"  
"A little late to be asking that, don't you think?" He barked. He didn't mean to feel so agitated, but it was like he was looking at his own body from the outside. All the fear and uncertainty bubbling up into one, foaming head, spitting and sizzling out of him. Now she was asking this? Now. Right when their lives were about to change forever and he'd have to face the fears he'd been trying to pack away all this time?  
He took a deep breath. Tohru was looking at him, eyes wide, tears welling up in the corners despite how hard she was obviously trying to push them back. He stood up from the table, furious with himself.  
"I'm going to go for a walk."  
"Kyo…"  
"I know it's late. I'll be fine."  
"Kyo, we need to go to the hospital."  
He stopped, just short of the door, and looked back at her.  
"Is it-"  
"Yes...it's time."

\----

"Hey, Red, how's it going?"  
It had been two hours, at most, between getting to the birthing center and checking into their room. The contractions were still manageable, but picking up quickly. Tohru had revealed on the way that she'd been having small contractions all night, already, but hadn't wanted to bother him until she was sure. Because of course she had.  
And now Arisa Uotani had shown up. He had heard Tohru calling her in the car, but it hadn't dawned on him that she was calling in backup until he was confronted just outside their birthing suite.  
"Hey, ya damn yankee." Kyo took in her half-formed outfit of jeans and a ripped-at-the-shoulders shirt before punching her in the arm. She had become like a brother over the years, an effect magnified by the fact she had married into the ex-zodiac circle. "You got here fast."  
"May or may not have broken a few speed records and...laws on the way in.  
"Couldn't convince Kureno to come?" Once or twice a week during the whole pregnancy, he had considered calling Kureno up. He had been the first to break the curse, so somehow, to Kyo, it felt like he might have a different insight. He could never properly form a question, though.  
"Nah, he has work in the morning. Besides, I think you're going to have to deal with more Sohmas than you planned, anyway." Uotani flicked her head over her shoulder then slipped into Tohru's room.  
Two more people were making their way quickly up the hall toward him. Yuki he half-expected. Kyo had called him when they got here to give an update but hadn't explicitly asked him to come down. Yuki wasn't going to miss something like this, though. Akito was a slightly more interesting sight to see.  
"Hey you two-" Kyo started then came up short when he saw how irritated Yuki was. Yuki immediately pulled up next to him, leaving Akito across from them to gently lean against the door to the room.  
"You left her in there alone?" Akito admonished. Kyo bristled automatically.  
"The nurse said I should go get her some juice from the machine."  
Akito made a small tsking sound.  
"That's just the trick they use for people who are in the way." Without another word, she opened the door and disappeared into the room.  
"Should I have stopped her?" Kyo unfroze after a moment.  
"She's going to do what she wants to do, so I don't think it would have mattered," Yuki replied with a sigh. "Come on, let's track down some snacks." He started leading them both down the hallway.  
"Why did Akito come?" Kyo asked after a moment, the realness of everything around him starting to finally settle in now that some anchors were in place.  
"I called Shigure to ask if I could borrow his car, and that somehow turned into Akito coming to pick me up." And he was right on the edge of being really, truly angry about the whole thing.  
They came to a vending machine at the end of the hall where it opened up into a small waiting area and started digging through their wallets for enough cash to get drinks for the lot of them.  
"Is it real, yet?" Yuki asked.  
"I don't know...I don't know...maybe," Kyo replied.  
"Well, you better get it together."  
"Yeah, I know. Lay off." Kyo plunked the first of several coins into the machine. Yuki seemed tense, his knuckles going white as he gripped the coins in his hand even tighter. "Are you okay, dude?"  
"I'm fine," Yuki lied very obviously. Kyo stared at him a little longer, waiting for him to admit he was holding something back. "Fine you, bastard cat, I just…" He paused to collect his words.  
"You know the whole 'I'm not really interested in having kids' thing? Machi is reconsidering. She asked me if there's a possibility I might change my mind.  
"And I don't know how I feel about it. Not yet.  
"But if you can do it, then obviously I can do it, too. So figure it out."  
Yuki took the three cans they managed to get so far and zipped off back down the hallway.  
By the time Kyo scraped together the rest of the cash necessary for two more drinks and made it back to the room, Uotani, Akito, and Yuki had been kicked out to another nearby waiting room.  
"Here." Kyo set down one of the cans on the side table next to the bed.  
"Thank y-ugh." Tohru winced as another series of contractions set in,and Kyo grabbed her hand, squeezing it tight. Sweat crept across her brown, dripping down into her delicate eyelashes. He felt the tension building up higher and higher. He had to fix this. His eyes fell down to the end of the bed, near her feet.  
"Tohru. I'm not mad at you or about the baby or anything. I'm scared. That the curse isn't really broken. That I don't know how to be a dad. And I don't know how you're not freaking out." He felt the gentle press of her hand, and met her gaze again.  
"Kyo, I'm terrified. Every single day since I found out, I have been terrified. I always think about Momiji's mom, and I wonder...what if that's us? What if I hold him, and he turns into an animal? What if I can never hug him?  
"I'm his mother, and I'm supposed to love him. But I don't feel anything, and mothers are supposed to feel things. And I asked Mayu and Mine about it, and they said that's normal. That it changes when they're born and you hold them for the first time...but what if I can't hold him?  
"What do I do then...oh my goodness...when does this stop?!" She placed her hand on her belly, and let out a shaky breath as another contraction ripped up and down her. And she laughed a little. Not something he expected the way this conversation was going.  
"I feel so stupid," she sighed, and Kyo squeezed her hand again. He couldn't believe it. That she'd been sitting on all these uncertainties. His own non-specific concerns about the curse paled in comparison.  
"Me too." He pushed the hair on her forehead away, tucking it behind her ear. "Tohru, you loved me when I was a stupid teenage boy fighting Yuki over you. And when I was a cat. And when I was a monster. Even after I hurt you the way I did. You're going to smother him...Hajime...with love. You're not going to be capable of anything less. I'm the one who's going to fall apart."  
She laughed a little again, and lifted her hand to his cheek, touching it gently.  
"How is it after all this time you still think I'm stronger than you?"  
"What does that mean?" Kyo replied, feeling his brows knit together a little. She just smiled.  
"Nothing. Don't worry about it." She left her hand on his cheek, but pressed her eyes closed for just a moment, working through the pain.  
"Kyo, can we do this?" Her eyes looked up at him again, searching for something.  
"We're Hajime's parents. We have to. It's our job."


End file.
